West newsletter lent 2015

WEST HOUSE NEWSLETTER LENT 2015 Dear West Parents, Well, we are finally through the 'dark ages' of the school year. The Lent term can feel like a real slog, as we start the term with dark mornings and evenings, and everything just feels like too much effort at times. Add in rehearsal exams for the top three year groups and the picture can seem a little bleak.

The term has been short but we have packed in just as much as we always do, and I have never known a term with so many opportunities for horizons to be expanded; there have been a huge array of lectures on offer, as well as numerous educational trips.

Highlights of the term are too many to mention really, but watching the U18 girls in the National Final was one I will never forget and I was so impressed by their skills, commitment and team spirit and even more so by the fact that they were such great ambassadors for Cranleigh. I would have loved to have seen the U14 girls the following day! As we know though, Cranleigh is not just about A team sport; I was just as impressed seeing my U16C netball team (mainly West girls) gain an unbeaten season and the U14s in the House Netball competition as I was watching the West debate team in the House Debating Competition. I could go on and on of course.

A theme we continued with at House Prayers is that of developing resilience in our young women ; the more I read about education and the pressures young people are under, the more I have become convinced that resilience is the most important quality for young people to develop. No matter how good exam results are, or how elite an athlete a young person is, they will face setbacks in their lives at some point and learning how to bounce back is something we can help teach them at school.

Revision is the name of the game for all three top year groups this holiday; I have made it clear to them what is expected as have their teachers and the Headmaster at final assembly; in my view it should be around 5-6 hours a day, 2 sessions out of 3 (ie morning, afternoon and evening) and a day off a the weekend. It will be hard going for them I know, but it will be so worth it once the results come out in August!

In the meantime I wish you all a lovely Easter!

Andrea

Fundraising Support– Ellie Mc Aleese We would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated books and toys. We have found out from Shooting Star Chase Hospice in Guildford, whom we were supporting, that are collection will raise £630. This is a great help to their ‘OneGoodThing’campaign and will help many children with extremely debilitating illnesses to live more fulfilled lives. So, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

House Debating– Abby Frett & Amelia Holden The motion for this year’s house debating was, ‘This house would aggressively sensor any content with misogamy, violence and criminality’ and arguing this on behalf of West was Amelia Holden, Lucy Collecott and Erin McCombe. Each argument put forward by them was very persuasive and pretty much everyone agreed that it would not be a good plan to mess with any of them, especially the fact that they were all extremely feisty! The rest of the great West House contributed really well to the floor debate but unfortunately we lost by a very very very close margin. However, we still won in spirit, determination and feistiness.

House Chess– Ellie Mc Aleese You could say House Chess was the highlight of West’s term. It showed our cerebral high ground above South in a way that cannot be matched. We won convincingly, with little input necessary. In true form, our first player (Ellie McAleese) lost her queen early on but went on to win with a special technique referred to by chess masters as “pure fluke”. Ally Bayne and Lydia Murphy also had strong wins against their opponents and Mandy Vickers managed to draw her game (despite being one move away from thrashing Jemima). Sadly, we did suffer 1 loss on table 5, but at least it gives us an aim for next year. Overall a very successful event filled with strong play and decision making. We hope to be allowed to play against the boys next year, a proper challenge.

House Fives– Liv Camsey House Fives was again, a massive success this year with each year group winning all their matches, making West the overall winners. Starting with the youngest and the beginners of this sport, Elsa and Millie played with determination and beat South 11-6. In the L5th Tabz and Becca won 11-7, after coming back from a 6-6 draw. They showed enormous team spirit throughout. Libby and Pip had the hardest game out of everyone who played. They narrowly won 11-9 but showed more determination which brought them the win. In the L6th, Megan and Liv thrashed South confidently, winning, 11-3. Lexi and Chloe played the south U6th and beat them 11-4. Well done West!

West House Bake-Off– Chloe Nicholls Over the past two terms there has been a new event introduced to West; West House bake-off.

Every Monday each year group would take it in turns to bring in their entries that they had made over the weekend and their goodies would then be judged, with two people from each year group being put through to the semi-finals. Again the semi-finalists did the same and from them we were able to choose an esteemed group of bakers for our final, consisting of Annie Piper, Liz O’Connell, Eliza Boyd and Bea Pakenham-Walsh. In the final they were tasked with baking a Victoria sponge all at the same time and their products were then judged in the evening. It was a very close call but in the end the title had to go to Annie Piper, congratulations.

North House Play– Beth Porter This years house play was directed by Mr Jenkins and was made up of 3 short sketches. The first piece was The Heist which included Amelia Holden as Dan who was the villain and she demonstrated the versatility of her acting ability amazingly. Ella Gosper appeared next in a more comedic piece called The walking stick which brought a feeling of relaxation to the room as she portrayed the slightly unaware character Belinda exceptionally well. The last sketch was Fathers for justice which included Tabz Francis. This sketch was my favourite as it showed a lot of comedy and fun lines that were acted with a lot of conviction. I hope that next year lots of people in West audition for the play as it is loads of fun and you gain valuable experience from it.

“To catch the reader's attention, place an interesting sentence or quote from the story here.”

House Netball– Felicity Bull& Chantelle Phillips Senior hose netball had a very large turn out despite the arctic chill that swept over the top courts. West had four very strong teams to take on south, each match were fought with determination and fantastic team spirit, it was extremely visible that every player tried as hard as they could until the last whistle went. Unfortunately despite putting up an incredible fight and keeping the goal difference to a minimum, west sadly lost. Although the overall score was a loss for west each player thoroughly enjoyed representing the house and participating.

Junior house netball proved to be one of the main highlights of the term. The LV B team in particular must be mentioned for their determination against the opposition, despite the LV being beaten, they had managed ensured the goal difference to south was minima and hence it meant that with the U14’s winning significantly, that west won the junior netball! Well played to every single netballer involved, they were not easy matches!

Senior House Cross Country This saw 10 runners from the mighty West House running 5km around the school in horrible weather but there were many West supporters cheering them on. Even though we lost, we definitely won in spirit!

Special mention goes to Felicity Bull who came 3rd, and seriously well done to Sophie Miller, Sophie House, Helly Crosthwaite, Tara Kohler, Izzy Greeno, Rachael Bertie, Bee Hardcastle, Tats St. Pier and Chloe Nicholls who all finished in awesome times!

Junior House Cross Country– Gracie Escolme & Abby Frett For the Junior House cross country, the talented West House put forward 10 extremely talented runners, which included Tabz Bowden, Eloise Hood, Gracie Escolme, Sophie Thornton-Wood, Becca Harnby, Ally Bayne, Bea St. Pier, Elsa Hardcastle, Emma Davis and Sophie Howard. Special mention goes to Tabz for coming 1st and also getting her personal best! Even though we lost by a very close margin, it was still a valiant effort all around and we definitely won in spirit!

Director of Studies prizes for academic excellence 4th Sophie Howard LV Charlie Andrews UV Zoe Dixon LVI Ellie McAleese-Park UVI Emma Kendall

House Academic Awards 4th Progress 4th Effort L5th Progress L5th Effort U5th Progress U5th Effort L6th Progress L6th Effort U6th Progress U6th Effort

Ellie Tolhurst/Elsa Hardcastle Lily Mitchell Jazzy Kohler Katie Legister Gracie Escolme Eloise Hood Ailsa Wates Charlotte Calnan Tara Kohler Ellie Smith

Half Colours Felicity Bull Lucy Collecott Sophie House Diamanda Vickers

Full Colours Erin McCombe Tatiana St Pier Charlotte Tristem

HAPPY EASTER!